Past Friend, New Love
by o0Shattered0o
Summary: They met when they were still small, the friendship seemingly impossible. She was a respected Shizumasu clan member; he was a feared Jinchūriki. But even so, as time passed, they became closer. But what happens when her clan gets involved in the matter?
1. Excerpt

**By the way, before I begin, I'd like to notify you all that this is the revised version of _Past Friend, New Love_. I know, I feel like crap for deleted it when I had so many reviews, and I love you all who read it!! Sadly, I don't think that you all will find this FanFiction again... But it made me happy you ever reviewed. Anyways, here's the summary, and the excerpt will be below that. I'm finally taking my writing seriously, so I want at least some criticism, please. **

_**Summary:**_

_**They met when they were still small, the friendship seemingly impossible. She was a respected Shizumasu clan member; he was a feared Jinchūriki. But, as it so happened, during the same year she was becoming friends with him, her clan rejected her, outcasting her from her family, and even her friends. He was the only one to stay by her side. The only one that could. And eventually, the wounds healed, and they became closer. But even after all this time neither of them knew about the others secrets.**_

**_By the way, The summary is above. If you don't read it, it's your loss._**

* * *

_Pain..._That was the only thought that crossed her mind at that moment. Fierce, unstoppable, unbearable pain. What had she done to deserve this kind of torture? Had she done something to piss off God? She tried to curl into herself, but found she hadn't even the strength to do that much. She had lost too much blood. Her head was throbbing, and her vision blurring, but even through that she could still feel the consciousness slipping away from her grasp. Now was one of the only times that she had ever truly wished she had been dead.

Not necessarily not the first.

She was laid out on her stomach, head faced to the side, breathing heavily. She closed her eyes in defeat, curling her fingers around the dagger that was in her hands. A bloodied, crimson covered dagger; the one that had penetrated her very own skin.

_Damn them, and their beliefs,_ she thought to herself, squeezing the hilt in her hand. But it just caused her more pain.

She had known this day would come. The day of pain; the day of suffering; the day of death. But even knowing all of that, she had been so selfish to think that she would be allowed at least a piece of happiness before the horrible nightmare was over. She was wrong to think that just because she had escaped her bound life of isolation, she was allowed the freedoms of other people. She was wrong. That's what they told her; and had always told her. She was just a useless play thing to them.

She cursed again, this time aloud, but regretting that she had done so immeadiatly. They would come if they heard her. They would come and bring the burden of their ancestors and sins. She was the one to pay. She was their sacrifice.

And as she could hear their footsteps nearing the room, she prayed that someone, anyone, would come to find her. She reached out with her mind, focusing her chakra into one final attempt at calling for help. Something that he would be able to hear. But she was spent, and wasn't able to finish the jutsu before the door slid open. And in that moment, she knew it was too late.

* * *

**_Did I leave you hanging? Hope so, because that part doesn't even come up for a while. One of the most interesting parts, actually. Anyways, I hope you liked it, and I'm looking forward to reviews and such from you guys! Love ya all!_**

**_Sami_**

**_Disclaimer: All characters (Except Terra) are owned by Masashi Kishimoto._**


	2. Chapter 1

_**Don't mind my crappy editing of my own work... 'Cause I really wanted to post this, and I'm about to be kicked off the computer. Anyways, I'd like to reintroduce my FanFic, Past Friend, New Love. I forgot who I got this idea off of, but kudos to them for helping this become possible. I WUV YOU! Other than that, I guess I have nothing more to say, so, adieu to you, and I hope you enjoy. **_

_**Summary:**_

_**They met when they were still small, the friendship seemingly impossible. She was a respected Shizumasu clan member; he was a feared Jinchūriki. But, as it so happened, during the same year she was becoming friends with him, her clan rejected her, out casting her from her family, and even her friends. He was the only one to stay by her side. The only one that could. And eventually, the wounds healed, and they became closer. But even after all this time neither of them knew about the others secrets.**_

_**By the way, the summary is above. If you don't read it, it's your loss.**_

_**Disclaimer: All characters (Except Terra) are owned by Masashi Kishimoto.**_

* * *

It was in the evening, a little past dinner time, nearing the end of the day. Some time around there, no one really knew. Mainly because they were all focused on their game of ball. Every one except her. The outsider.

But she had chosen to not join in, mainly because she was told not to by her mother. Though, she was used to it by now. It happened frequently. And she was twelve, and she knew better than to go against the orders of her mother.

She soon stood alone across the yard from a couple of kids playing soccer. She was wearing her usual clothing, mainly consisting of her white kimono, a dragon pattern swirling up the side. The sash was a light blue, black markings tracing over the creases, and a small luck charm attached to it. It had been her mothers idea to do that. Seemingly to ward off bad luck. Like she believed in that kind of stuff anymore. She was twelve, and she knew better than that.

Her silver bangs swept across her forehead, lightly brushing against the skin. Her blood-red colored eyes traced the ball's path incessantly, marking checkpoints as to where it had been, and already calculating the distance it was from each goal. It was practice for her.

The sky was painted a golden color, the sun disappearing behind the building that towered above the area. She closed her eyes, and then opened them again, hoping she would feel at least slightly better. But alas, that had no affect on how she felt. She felt... completely alone, for some reason, even though she was surrounded by laughter; joy. Children playing and screaming; just having fun.

This feeling nearly consumed her. Even when she was younger, the feeling of loneliness always settled in. Her parents continued to worry about her, and couldn't figure out why she was that way. She had so many 'friends' to spend time with, so many toys and objects of affection. And even though she was young, she felt the need for something real.

But sadly, she found those real things unattainable. It was irking her to no end. A bothersome little voice in the back of her head. Even her father had known what it had been like.

Sighing, she prodded the ground with a twig she had found somewhere. It was unusual to find wood lying around, but she paid no attention to that matter. It was of no importance to her.

"Terra, come play with us!" she could hear the piercing high pitched whine from one of the boys approaching her. Messy black hair; blue eyes. Seemingly no danger. But she hesitated before slowly shaking her head, refusing the request.

"I told you before, I cannot," grammar was something that had rubbed off from her parents. Something that she was expected to learn at an early age.

"Why?" he was persistent, lightly poking her in the arm. She grimaced as he did so. Her mild training consisted of her and her father playing Hide-and-Seek, and she usually just focused her energy on moving. Which changed it into a game of tag. Her muscles were still a bit sore.

"I am not allowed to get my new kimono dirty," a simple answer, and almost completely obvious to her.

But by the time she had answered the boy's question, she was talking to an empty space before her. Maybe he had run off because she had become boring? She shook the thought out of her mind. That was definitely not it. She was told that she was advanced, a perfect daughter of the clan. Looking around, she tried to see where he had gotten to, maybe to assure herself that it was only her imagination. But she knew the boy had already ran in the direction of home. Her eyes wandered the field in front of her, checking to see if there was anyone else. There were few. Instead, they had started migrating from one end of the field to the other, trying to run away from a small boy a few years younger than her.

His blazing, fire like red hair looked like flames from the distance between the two of them. She squinted, trying to get a better view of who this person was. But her eyesight wasn't good enough to actually see that clearly from where she stood. Sighing, she just watched as the scene unfolded, a little disappointed that the children were running away so hastily.

She wondered why they would be running away from him, of all people. He seemed harmless enough, and what added to that was that he was just standing there. Nothing more. But nonetheless, the others were running in the opposite direction of where he had come from. They looked more than scared, which seemed odd to her.

But she paused in her thinking, remembering a few words that her father had told her while he was teaching. It was a simple concept, but for some reason, it stuck out vividly in her mind.

_"You can never tell if one is dangerous until you face them,"_ she recalled the words her father had said to her one evening.

_It was nearing dusk by the time her and her father were finishing up that days lesson, the sun finally disappearing from view. It was still quite hot, but the temperature would surely drop as the night came in. They were situated in a room on the second floor of her parents' estate_

_"Until you face them in battle, you can never assume that the opponent is weaker than yourself," he had explained. She looked up earnestly as he let the words sink into her mind. He was a large man, muscular strength and all. His frame was mostly bulk, his black hair the exact opposite of his daughters'. It came down to about his shoulders, and was tied back neatly. His brown eyes were warm, crinkles forming in the corners whenever he smiled. Overall, he was a pleasant man. Soon enough he drew out a picture made of x's and o's, displaying patterns in movements, and ways to react to specific gestures._

_"I know you probably think that this is happening at a very fast pace, but trust me, my little Terra. All of this information you are learning now will be invaluable to you in combat in the future. It is vital to know these things in order to survive later in life," her father stated as the lesson came to an abrupt close._

_She let the words imprint the message into her mind, leaving an ineffaceable effect. She had his thoughts and actions already memorized. And Terra eagerly awaited more information._

_"Though you are still very young," he had continued , "You are still capable of learning these things. Nothing can stop you if you are persistent with your learning, and always evaluate your surroundings and situation before making any decisions. You are the pride of this clan, and I expect you to know these things,"_

_Nodding quickly in agreement, her father laughed, a low, rumbling noise. She giggled, and went over to give him a hug. She couldn't actually give him a hug, due to her tiny size in comparison to him. So she just hugged him around his fore-arm, squeezing tightly._

_He chuckled as he embraced her with his other free giggled as she spoke, "Father, I can't breath,"Her father let go quickly after that, grinning, "I apologize, Terra, I just don't know my own strength do I?"_

_Terra giggled in response, and she hugged him again, this time getting a much gentler response. She could feel him smile at the contact._

_They had always been close. Much closer than that of her and her mother. She wouldn't understand her feelings. But her father could understand; he could understand her feelings of loneliness in this household. He himself had told her at times, that he felt as lonely as the dead themselves._

_But that was a horrible thought. Too horrible to even mention. And the two had kept these conversations a secret from her mother, and they were doing a great job. She hadn't suspected that they were keeping something from her. And that was the one thing that she hated, above all else._

_Her mother could be a very frightening person. Especially when she has gotten angry over something. And it sent a shiver down her spine, remembering the last time that it had happened._

_Terra's father felt it, and chuckled once again. But his statement was more of question, "It seems you are bothered by something?"_

_She shook her head slowly, not wanting to cause him any trouble. But he just smiled down at her, "Always one to think of others, sweet Terra,"_

_Terra frowned, and he poked her in the head where the crease between her eyebrows had formed. She blinked, her face instantly becoming expressionless. He grinned, the smile a little wider than it had been before._

_"Do well, Terra, and maybe Mother will finally become more friendly towards you," he smiled, and Terra became quite confused. She sat down across from him afterwards, cross legged on the floor._

_"Father, why does Mother hate me?" was the first question that came out of her mouth. It had been something she had been meaning to ask him, but never had enough courage to actually bring the topic up. Her father only smiled sadly and tousled her hair, his large hands causing her perfectly straight hair to become messy._

_"Because, you are different, little one," was his only answer. Soon after, he stood and exited the room, bringing the sliding door shut behind him._

It had also been one of the most confusing moments of her life, as well as most important. Something such as that would be important…

But this boy didn't seem any different than her, so it didn't click right away that he was the boy her mother had so fiercely warned her about. The boy that she had told her to stay away from at all costs. The boy she, stated bluntly, wanted to kill. But really, he didn't seem at all dangerous...

Wait. That's what he wants me to think, she shook her head, the thought dispersing at once. What was she thinking? He probably was as lost and as lonely as she was, finding no one to contemplate with was a horrible thought. He was the same, in a way. But the words her mother had told her kept haunting her thoughts.

_"You leave that boy alone, you hear?" she snapped, after Terra had asked who he was when they had passed by him while near the market, "Nothing good will come out of becoming friends with that thing... that monster."_

_Monster?_

_MONSTER?_

_**MONSTER?!**_

After recalling the exact words her mother had spoken, something just suddenly snapped inside of her, the word echoing in her head as if she was in a cave. She growled in frustration, fists clenched, and teeth grinding against each other. How dare she call any human being a monster! It was unreasonable, even to herself, who was only twelve years old. It was apparent who had been mistaken, in her opinion. But she could only watch helplessly as the scene advanced further.

The boy moved his arms forward, offering the ball that was used in the game that was played only minutes before. But at that point, almost all of the kids had began screaming and had run away. Terra stared at the group before her, who had now advanced almost halfway across the field. And soon enough, a stream of sand became visible in the air, wrapping itself around some of their legs and dragging them back.

Frankly, she was quite shocked to see such a thing. She hadn't been taught about different types of jutsu just yet, and she highly doubted that this was normal behavior for anyone, even if he was a child like herself.

They were all screaming, a bit too loud for her taste, but also not quite clear enough to distinguish. She took a step, not realizing the pain at first, but it eventually came to her. It was a consequence of beginning early. She forced herself to walk forward, taking a few steps at a time. Eventually, she made it close enough to where she could make out the words the others were screaming. It made her stop abruptly, anger boiling inside of her for the first time.

"Freak! Monster!" was what she could hear. The rest was a little blurred out since everyone was yelling at once. The screams echoed as they had before. _What was up with this population?_ was the first question to pop into her mind. But she quickly recovered, an unknown anger boiling inside of her for the first time.

It was just despicable; a very low thing to do as to hurt someone when they were suffering. She had decided long ago that she didn't like the thought of it at all, and she wouldn't be able to put up with it. Stepping on someone while they're down was just low.

"Keep running, you stuck up jerks!" she yelled, her glare boring holes into most of their backs. If looks could kill... she was sure that all of them would be dead by now. This just frightened the group even more, and the screaming worsened.

_Shoot_, she thought, covering her ears, the high pitched sound she found was almost too much to bear. She had squeezed her eyes shut at the last moment, trying to focus on blocking the sound out. But she soon realized that the sound had lessened.

Looking up, she noticed that the group had scattered all over the place, all were probably running home in tears. Technically, that wasn't actually surrendering… but at least it had left the poor kid behind her with relief of the harassment.

But the whole thing still left her in a sour mood, no matter how she could look at it. She grimaced, finally aware of the throbbing pain in her legs. But she turned her attention back to the current situation.

"They're all sad stories for human beings," She hissed, anger seeping into every word she spoke. "Are you al-" She stopped in mid sentence when she looked over her shoulder to get a more clear view of the boy behind her. She could tell just by the sounds he was making that he was crying.

Terra hadn't seen anyone cry for some time, including herself. She was told it was a sign of weakness when she was even younger. But she was told so by her mother, and now she wasn't so sure she could trust her. Either way, she didn't like to see people cry, mainly because she felt she was useless in the situation. Because she was pretty sure that no one would stop crying because they were told to.

_'I hate it when people cry,' _Terra thought to herself, turning around to face him. His hair was a much more dull red than she had first thought. This was definitly the boy that her mother had warned her about. She couldn't help but smirk at the irony of it. But the smile soon turned into a frown, seeing how the boy hadn't even noticed everyone had run home _'Seems hopeless,' _she thought a bit bitterly.

"Are you alright?" Terra repeated the question again, a bit louder, thinking that maybe he couldn't hear her. But she could guess he had, as he flinched as she spoke to him. That was when he looked up at her, tears in his eyes and all. And they just stared at one another for what seemed like eternity.

"Y-you're not afraid of me?" He finally stammered, after many moments of silence that had passed between the two.

Terra just smiled sadly down at him, but said nothing. She could tell that her actions just had frightened him even more than she had in the first place. Muttering an apology before turning around to leave, she was sure that she wouldn't be of any help. It wasn't long before she felt a hand on her wrist, haulting her attempt to walk off. The grip wasn't strong, just a loose hold. Something easy to break through.

_Could he really be that dangerous?_ But then again, there was the mysterious sand to think about as well. She turned her head so that she could get a clear view of his face again. Tears were still streaming down his cheeks, but it seemed he was almost in full control of his emotions. Giving him a questioning look, she fully turned herself around to where she was facing him.

He just looked away after that, and taking it a signal that he wouldn't be speaking to her anytime soon, she turned back around, beginning to walk again. But the hand at her wrist wouldn't leave, and before she knew it, he spoke.

"Why did you defend me?" she could hear that he had gathered up the courage to ask her this. Terra didn't turn back, but stopped when he finished.

"I know what it feels like to be kicked around, especially when you're suffering," she answered in a low tone of voice. The sentence was barely audible to even her own ears, but she knew that he had heard her.

Terra could feel his questioning gaze as his hand left her wrist, but she didn't give any sign that she was leaving. There was more silence, and she could tell it was becoming quite uncomfortable. After all, this kind of silence was what she hated most.

"What is your name?" she was sure that she already knew, but for the sake of this boy's sanity, she might as well of asked.

He was silent for a short period of time before he spoke. She could hear the hesitant tone in his voice, like he was fearing she might run away like the others if he told her, "I'm Gaara,"

She smiled faintly, though he couldn't see it. So she had been right about his name. She guessed that this would give her mother a reason to scold her when she found out. Or _if _she found out. She turned suddenly, and Gaara flinched noticeably. But instead of the angry glare that he was anticipating from her, and huge grin was plastered across her face. Which scared him even more than before.

"And I am Terra. Nice to meet you," holding out her hand to him, he took it, a bit confused at the overall situation. Her grin only grew in response.

"Why...?"

"Why what?" she questioned. She was pretty sure she knew the answer to that, but it didn't hurt to ask. Because what she was doing was going against her mother's wishes, and that was something that was completely forbidden. But that was what made doing something like this even more entertaining. Her crimson eyes flashed mischievously.

"Why... Are you treating me like this?" he asked hesitantly. There was a mixture of emotions behind his voice; confusion, fear, anticipation. Terra supposed it was... normal for someone like him... Considering he wasn't treated very well to begin with.

"Because..." she paused, her thoughts in a jumble. What was she supposed to tell him? She wasn't afraid of him. She certainly didn't hate him. But what... Then it hit her. Her smile became a bit kinder, "Because I've decided I want to be your friend."

* * *

_**I DIDN'T REACH MY GOAL!! Grrrrrrrr...**_

_**While I was writing the last part, when he was crying, I was thinking: 'Gaara is just too kawaii!! I wanna glomp him!'**_

_**I do hope you liked the first chapter! I know, I'm horrible for just posting the excerpt... But whatever. This first chapter turned out pretty well, but the next chapter is probably going to be crappy. Just to warn you, I'm having to change names (and part of the plot... which totally SUCKS!) because I found the first name I used unsuitable for the character. As you know (If you read it before the rewritten part of it), I have most of the chapters written, but I really, REALLY need to finish the plot on a plot diagram. Kudos to the one who came up with the brilliant idea of a plot diagram. To whoever responsible, thank you, even if you're dead/deceased. I don't want to sound rude… Anyways, I hope you liked it, and yes, I'm trying to make the chapters longer, 'cause I feel bad about making them so 'short'. If you like this, you'll probably also like my original story (I know I'm advertising...) Broken Wings from my account here... (Without spaces, mind you) h t t p : / / w w w . f i c t i o n p r e s s . c o m / s / 2 5 0 3 5 8 1 / 1 / B r o k e n (Underscore) W i n g s**_

_**And the underscore is on the keyboard. Just look for it.**_

**_But, OH MY GOD I DID IT!! No one probably knows of my technical difficulties with Broken Wings, except maybe ninjawitch93, who experienced my ranting about it once. But I could NOT figure out how to use a stupid flash drive, and because my documents were on a computer without internet, I couldn't edit and post them. That, and it's my sisters now, and I'm scared she might read it. But after weeks of trying, I came up with an idea this morning. So I tried it. I tried writing it to a CD, and it FRIGGIN WORKED!! I'M SO HAPPY!! You have no idea how much effort I put into that novel, not to mention the short amount of time I crammed it into. So you should check it out._**

_**So, toodles to you!**_

_**Sami**_


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